In focus: Taking a fresh approach

Children with learning disabilities are 28 times more likely than average to have serious sight problems, and yet only one in 10 of these children has any history of attending a community optician. This serious discrepancy was just one of the findings contained within SeeAbility’s Children in Focus 2019: A change in sight report, which was released on October 10 to coincide with World Sight Day and the 220th anniversary of SeeAbility’s founding.

Informed and supported by SeeAbility’s project, NHS England has made a commitment in the Long Term Plan to roll out a new national programme of eye care in all special schools from 2020.
SeeAbility was founded in 1799, making it one of the oldest disability organisations in the world, and since then has provided specialist support and eye care to those with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss. The charity’s new report draws on the findings of its clinical team over the past six years of being embedded with 11 special schools and providing eye care. Over the years, the team has provided over 3,500 sight tests, dispensed over 1,700 pairs of glasses and supported nearly 1,500 children with their eye care needs.